Developing plurilingual citizens in multilingual …...Developing plurilingual citizens in...
Transcript of Developing plurilingual citizens in multilingual …...Developing plurilingual citizens in...
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Developing plurilingual citizens in
multilingual societies: strengthening
the role of regional and minority
languages
David Little
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
About myself
• English by birth and education: not an Irish-speaker
• Studied modern languages (German and French) at Oxford
• Came to Trinity College Dublin in 1967 as a junior lecturer in
the Department of German
• Became interested in problems of language teaching and
learning
• Established the Centre for Language and Communication
Studies in 1979 and became an applied linguist
• In 1985, with Helen Ó Murchú and David Singleton,
developed two functional-notional inventories for Irish (adults;
schools)
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
About myself
• In 1986 contributed to a language education policy document
issued by the Curriculum and Examinations Board (now the
NCCA)
• In 2003 wrote a discussion document for the NCCA on the
future of languages at post-primary level
• Have contributed since the 1980s to the language education
work of the Council of Europe
• Have been centrally involved since the 1990s in the
development and implementation of the European Language
Portfolio
• Principal research interest: the theory and practice of learner
autonomy in second language education
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
What this talk is about
• The situation of Irish in our school system and the need for
reform
• How the work of the Council of Europe can help us to shape
reform
– The concept of plurilingualism and the importance of diversity
– The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(Council of Europe 2001)
– The European Language Portfolio
• An example of how the Council of Europe tools can be used:
English as a second language in Irish primary schools
• How to apply my argument to Irish in particular and regional
and minority languages in general
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The situation of Irish in our
school system
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Some basics
• Since the foundation of the state the school system has
been responsible for restoring the Irish language
• Irish is thus an obligatory subject from the beginning to
the end of English-medium schooling
• Irish Language Commissioner: 13 years 1,500 hours
− and young people are still leaving school without a
basic command of the language
• Five grown-up children: 65 years 7,500 hours
• Widespread sense of waste, futility and impatience
• Hence Fine Gael‟s recent proposal: make Irish an
optional subject in the school-leaving exam
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
What happens if Irish becomes optional?
• The politicians say: The situation of the language will
actually improve, because those who choose to learn it
will be genuinely motivated to do so
• Language education experts say: All the evidence
suggests that if languages are made optional, large
numbers of students will not take them − languages are
often unpopular and widely perceived to be difficult (cf.
the case of foreign languages in England)
• What the Irish Language Commissioner says: “If it's a
choice of abandoning [the teaching of Irish] or reforming
it, the first choice has to be for reforming it” (Education
Today, 22 March 2011)
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
What kind of reform do we need?
• According to the Irish Language Commissioner, students
should be offered two Irish courses:
“One would be a communications course, where the emphasis
would be on writing, reading and speaking Irish − and only on that.
A second course would be for people with a natural interest in the
language − literature, poetry, drama and so on.
“The two courses would run the same way as we have maths and
applied maths − as two separate courses.
“So we could have a similar system where everybody would leave
school with a basic command of the language, enough where they
could watch TG4 or read a newspaper or order a pizza in Irish”
(Education Today, 22 March 2011)
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Why the Commissioner is wrong
• His proposal makes a false distinction between “communication”
(ordering a pizza in Irish) and “interest in the language” (literature etc.)
• It fails to recognize the different needs of native and non-native
speakers, and of Irish-medium and English-medium schools
• It focuses on Irish as an isolated component of the curriculum rather
than as an integral part of a language education that should embrace:
English or Irish as L1; Irish or English as L2; foreign languages; Irish
Sign Language; home languages of immigrants
• It ignores the need for a framework in which the needs of English-
medium and Irish-medium schooling can be met in a mutually
beneficial way
• Sensible reform that would have some chance of success requires
specialist input using an internationally recognized tool Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
How the work of the Council of Europe
can help to shape reform
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
General policy orientation
• To create a common democratic and legal area throughout
the continent, ensuring respect for its fundamental values:
– Human rights
– Democracy
– Rule of law
• Enduring concern with social inclusion, social cohesion and
respect for diversity
• “Languages in/for Education” project launched in 2006 as part
of the follow-up to the Third Summit of Heads of State and
Government (Warsaw, May 2005)
• Foundational concept: “plurilingual and intercultural
education”
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Plurilingualism
• The Council of Europe distinguishes between plurilingual
individuals, who are capable of communicating in two or
more languages, at whatever level of proficiency, and
multilingual regions or societies, where two or more
language varieties are in use
• According to the CEFR, language education should aim to
provide learners with plurilingual and intercultural
competence, understood as “the ability to use languages for the purposes of communication and to take
part in intercultural interaction, where a person, viewed as a social agent has
proficiency, of varying degrees, in several languages and experience of
several cultures”
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Plurilingualism in education
• Everyone has the potential to be plurilingual because
plurilingual competence is a consequence of our inbuilt
language capacity
• Education should seek to ensure the harmonious
development of the individual‟s plurilingual competence
in the same way as it seeks to promote the development
of his or her other abilities
• The different languages in a plurilingual repertoire
usually serve different purposes: communicating within
the family, socializing with neighbours, working,
studying, expressing membership of a group, and so on
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Some key questions
• How can we define the purposes served by the different
languages in our pupils‟ and students‟ developing plurilingual
repertoires?
– In the case of Irish the answer may be different for Irish-medium and
English-medium curricula, but it should be expressed in the same terms
• How can we define the proficiency levels to be achieved in the
different languages at different stages of schooling?
• How can we ensure that our curriculum goals are expressed in
terms that carry unmistakable pedagogical implications?
Answer
• By making use of the CEFR and the European Language
Portfolio ELP
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The CEFR: six levels of L2 proficiency
A1
A2
B1
B2
C1
C2
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The CEFR: six levels of L2 proficiency
A1 − Breakthrough
A2 − Waystage
B1 − Threshold
B2 − Vantage
C1 − Effective Operational
Proficiency
C2 − Mastery
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The CEFR: six levels of L2 proficiency
A1 − Breakthrough
Basic user
A2 − Waystage
B1 − Threshold
Independent user
B2 − Vantage
C1 − Effective Operational
Proficiency Proficient user
C2 − Mastery
Self-assessment grid
I can deal with most situations
likely to arise whilst travelling in
an area where the language is
spoken. I can enter unprepared
into conversation on topics that
are familiar, of personal interest
or pertinent to everyday life (e.g.
family, hobbies, work, travel and
current events).
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The scales behind the self-assessment grid
• 34 illustrative scales for various dimensions of LISTENING,
READING, SPOKEN INTERACTION, SPOKEN PRODUCTION, WRITING
But the behavioural scales are complemented by
• 13 scales of linguistic competence and language quality, for example:
– GENERAL LINGUISTIC RANGE
– VOCABULARY RANGE
– VOCABULARY CONTROL
– GRAMMATICAL ACCURACY
• 7 strategic scales, for example:– PLANNING
– COMPENSATING
– MONITORING/REPAIR
To do the CEFR justice, the three kinds of scale must be used in interaction with one another
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Two points to bear in mind• The CEFR‟s action-oriented approach offers to bring
curriculum, pedagogy and assessment into closer
interrelation than has traditionally been the case. Each
“can do” descriptor may serve as– A curriculum target
– A criterion for selecting/developing learning activities and materials
– A starting point for the elaboration of assessment criteria
• The CEFR is language-independent: its use should always
entail elaboration in terms of the particular language that is
in focus; hence– The French référentiels for the different proficiency levels
– Profile deutsch
– English Profile
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
What lies behind the CEFR?
• The Council of Europe‟s work on language education
has always aimed to “make the process of language learning more democratic by providing
the conceptual tools for the planning, construction and conduct of
courses closely geared to the needs, motivations and characteristics of
the learner and enabling him so far as possible to steer and control his
own progress” (Trim 1978, p.1)
• It is thus no accident that – the Council of Europe first introduced the concept of learner autonomy
to the world of foreign language learning (Holec 1979)
– learning precedes teaching and assessment in the CEFR‟s sub-title
– the European Language Portfolio (ELP) was developed as a means of
mediating the CEFR‟s ethos to language learners
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The ELP: three obligatory components
• Language Passport– Summarizes the owner‟s linguistic identity and language learning and
intercultural experience
– Records the owner‟s self-assessment
• Language Biography– Provides a reflective accompaniment to the ongoing processes of
learning and using second languages and engaging with the cultures associated with them
– Includes “I can” checklists to support self-assessment
• Dossier– Collects evidence of L2 proficiency and intercultural experience
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Key features of the ELP• Designed to
– make the language learning process more transparent to the learner
and foster the development of learner autonomy
– promote intercultural awareness and plurilingualism
• Values all language and intercultural learning, whether it
takes place in formal educational contexts or outside them
• Learner self-assessment is carried out using checklists of
“I can” descriptors organized by activity and CEFR level
• Focus on goal setting and self-assessment helps to make
language learning more democratic and enable learners
to steer and control their own progress (cf. Trim 1978)
• A reporting as well as a pedagogical function
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Adapting the CEFR and the ELP to local
needs: English as a second language in
Irish primary schools
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The context• From the early 1990s unprecedented numbers of migrants came
to Ireland: refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants
• Thus Irish primary and post-primary schools were required to
accommodate large numbers of children and adolescents whose
home language was neither English nor Irish
• Newcomer pupils/students are assigned to a mainstream class
appropriate to their age and provided with two years of English
language support delivered on a withdrawal basis
• Integrate Ireland Language and Training (IILT; 1999-2008) given
the tasks of
– developing an ESL curriculum and other teaching/learning supports
– mediating them to teachers via a programme of in-service seminars
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Basic requirements of a primary ESL curriculum
It must
• reflect the purpose of ESL support: to give ESL pupils
access to mainstream education
• describe progression in learning
• make sense to teachers
• be presented in a form that encourages and facilitates
frequent use
• support a pedagogy oriented to the development of learner
autonomy and communicative teaching methods
The CEFR as an obvious model and source
• English Language Proficiency Benchmarks
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Why we had to adapt the CEFR
• The CEFR‟s descriptors imply mostly adult communicative
behaviour based on an adult range of experience
• The CEFR focuses mostly on language use outside
educational contexts, whereas our ESL curriculum must
focus on the communicative use of English as the medium
of primary education
Note
• Because the purpose of our curriculum was to bring pupils
to the threshold of full participation in the mainstream, we
needed only the first three common reference levels (B1 =
Threshold)
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
How we adapted the CEFR• We observed a number of Irish primary classrooms and drew
up a checklist of typical modes of classroom communication
• We familiarized ourselves with the multi-volume primary
curriculum and identified 13 recurrent themes
• We rewrote the first three levels of the CEFR‟s self-
assessment grid to make them age-appropriate and domain-
specific
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
How we adapted the CEFR• We observed a number of Irish primary classrooms and drew
up a checklist of typical modes of classroom communication
• We familiarized ourselves with the multi-volume primary
curriculum and identified 13 recurrent themes
• We rewrote the first three levels of the CEFR‟s self-
assessment grid to make them age-appropriate and domain-
specific
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
How we adapted the CEFR• We observed a number of Irish primary classrooms and drew
up a checklist of typical modes of classroom communication
• We familiarized ourselves with the multi-volume primary
curriculum and identified 13 recurrent themes
• We rewrote the first three levels of the CEFR‟s self-
assessment grid to make them age-appropriate and domain-
specific
• We wrote 13 “units of work” in the form of “can do” statements
at three levels
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
How we adapted the CEFR• We observed a number of Irish primary classrooms and drew
up a checklist of typical modes of classroom communication
• We familiarized ourselves with the multi-volume primary
curriculum and identified 13 recurrent themes
• We rewrote the first three levels of the CEFR‟s self-
assessment grid to make them age-appropriate and domain-
specific
• We wrote 13 “units of work” in the form of “can do” statements
at three levels
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
How we adapted the CEFR• We observed a number of Irish primary classrooms and drew
up a checklist of typical modes of classroom communication
• We familiarized ourselves with the multi-volume primary
curriculum and identified 13 recurrent themes
• We rewrote the first three levels of the CEFR‟s self-
assessment grid to make them age-appropriate and domain-
specific
• We wrote 13 “units of work” in the form of “can do” statements
at three levels
• We added scales of underlying linguistic competence:
grammar, vocabulary, phonology, orthography
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Basic pedagogical considerations
• In any immersion context language learning is driven above
all by language use, so supports for teaching and learning
must focus above all on the development of the pupils‟
communicative repertoire
• Given the limited nature of ESL support, it is essential to
develop pupils‟ metacognitive and metalinguistic
awareness and skills
• It is important to capture each pupil‟s ESL development in
such a way that it can easily be reported and demonstrated
to class teacher, school principal, parents, school
inspectors
• ELP as key tool for learning and teaching
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language passport
• Focuses on the pupil‟s identity, with particular reference to
language
– Who she/he is
– What language(s) other than English she/he speaks, and
with whom
• Designed to accommodate the translation of headings into
the individual learner‟s home language
My Language Passport
……………………………………
My name is: _________________
…………………………
I live at: _________________
……………………….. _________________
_________________
My birthday is: _________________
…………………………
My school is: _________________
………………………… My hair is: _________________
…………………………
My eyes are: _________________
…………………………
Stick your photo or draw your
picture here
Languages I know
These are the languages I know:
I speak with my family
I speak in school
I also know
I can read in ………………………………..
………………………………..
I can write in ……………………………….
………………………………
………………………
……………………………..
…………………………….. .
………………………………
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language passport
• Focuses on the pupil‟s identity, with particular reference to
language
– Who she/he is
– What language(s) other than English she/he speaks, and
with whom
• Designed to accommodate the translation of headings into
the individual learner‟s home language
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language passport
• Focuses on the pupil‟s identity, with particular reference to
language
– Who she/he is
– What language(s) other than English she/he speaks, and
with whom
• Designed to accommodate the translation of headings into
the individual learner‟s home language
• Tracks progress against the activities and levels of the
benchmarks (Global benchmarks of language proficiency)
Global benchmarks of communicative proficiency – Speaking and Writing (for details see Language Proficiency Benchmarks)
A1 BREAKTHROUGH A2 WAYSTAGE B1 THRESHOLD
Spoken Interaction
I can say hello and goodbye, please and thank you, can ask for directions in the school, and can ask and answer simple questions.
I can answer questions about my family, friends, school work, hobbies and holidays. I can keep up a conversation with my classmates when we are working together, and can express my feelings.
I can talk fluently about school, my family, my daily routine and my likes and dislikes. I can take part in classroom discussions and can hold conversations with other pupils about things I am interested in. I can repeat what has been said and pass the information on to another person.
S P E A K I N G
Spoken Production
I can give a simple description of where I live and people I know, especially members of my family.
I can describe my family, my daily routines and activities, and my plans for the immediate or more distant future.
I can retell a story that has been read in class or the plot of a film I have seen or a book I have read. I can describe a special family event (religious festival, birthday, new baby, etc.) and can explain my opinions and plans.
W R I T I N G
Writing
(if appropriate
to the age of
the pupil)
I can write my name and address and the name of the school. I can write labels on pictures and copy short sentences from the board.
I can write new words in my European Language Portfolio and can write short texts on familiar topics (e.g., what I like to do when I’m at home). I can write a short message (e.g., a postcard) to a friend.
I can write my daily news, a short letter, a summary of a book or film, an account of my feelings about an event or situation, and a short dialogue to be performed by puppets.
A1
A2 B1
With a lot
of help
With a little
help With no
help
With a lot
of help
With a
little help
With no
help
With a lot
of help
With a little
help
With no help
Speaking
Writing
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language biography
• Focuses on
- pupil‟s daily exposure to language: hearing, speaking
and reading
- learning how to learn: development of metacognitive
and metalinguistic awareness
WHERE I use and learn languages
When I get up in the morning I speak _________________
On my way to school I hear ___________________________
With my friends I speak ___________________________
In my class I hear _________________________________
At home I see
these things written: in these languages:
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
On the street I see
these things written: in these languages:
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
At home I hear
these things: in these languages:
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
I speak
these languages: in these places:
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
_________________________ _____________________
HOW I learn
W
O
R
D
S
When I want to
learn and
remember new
words I …
R
E
A
D
I
N
G
When I want to
read something I
…
L
I
S
T
E
N
I
N
G
When I want to
understand what I
am hearing I …
S
P
E
A
K
I
N
G
When I want to
speak I …
W
R
I
T
I
N
G
When I want to
write something
I …
Write
the
date!
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language biography
• Focuses on
- pupil‟s daily exposure to language: hearing, speaking
and reading
- learning how to learn: development of metacognitive
and metalinguistic awareness
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language biography
• Focuses on
- pupil‟s daily exposure to language: hearing, speaking
and reading
- learning how to learn: development of metacognitive
and metalinguistic awareness
• Provides “I can” checklists for the 13 “units of work”
Our school A1 I can understand some of the things that the teacher
says in class and the names for things in the school
I can understand when my friends tell me how to play a
game
I can read the names and notices on the doors in my
school and on the board
I can ask permission to go to the toilet
I can ask for things in the classroom
A2 I understand what the teacher says in P.E.
I can understand things that I must tell my parents
I can read words that I know in a book
I can give a message to the teacher or tell a teacher
about a problem
I can tell the story of what I saw on television
I can write a little about my school and my friends
I can write a little about what we are doing in class
B1 I can understand exactly what the teacher says to me
I can understand the other pupils in my class
I can read my textbooks in the class
I can ask the teacher questions in class
I can tell my class about things we are learning
I can write about my day at home or in school
I can write about my friends and what we do together
Seasons, holidays and festivals A1 I can understand the words for the holidays and
festivals during the school year
I can read the words for festivals and seasons
I can say the words for the seasons and for the weather
in different seasons
I can say when the main festivals are in the year
I can copy sentences about seasons and festivals from
the board
A2 I can understand the main words about seasons and
festivals when the teacher talks about them in class
I can read about a season or festival and use pictures to
help me understand
I can answer some questions about the important
celebrations in my home
I can talk to my friends about festivals and celebrations
I can describe special celebrations to my teacher or
class
I can write news about a special event in school or in my
home
B1 I can understand lessons about seasons and festivals
I can read about seasons, holidays and festivals in my
reader or textbook
I can answer questions about the celebrations in my
home
I can describe an important event in my family
I can write about a festival or celebration
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language biography
• Focuses on
- pupil‟s daily exposure to language: hearing, speaking
and reading
- learning how to learn: development of metacognitive
and metalinguistic awareness
• Provides “I can” checklists for the 13 “units of work”
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − language biography
• Focuses on
- pupil‟s daily exposure to language: hearing, speaking
and reading
- learning how to learn: development of metacognitive
and metalinguistic awareness
• Provides “I can” checklists for the 13 Units of Work
• The checklists are used to
- plan learning
- monitor progress ( language passport)
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”The pupil reads the
statement before
„proving‟ that he/she can
do it
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
The teacher uses a date
stamp each time pupil
colours an icon
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − dossier
• A table-of-contents page
Contents In my dossier I have -
Description
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − dossier
• A table-of-contents page
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − dossier
• A table-of-contents page
• “Open” pages related to the “units of work”
Myself and my family
Write about yourself
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Draw a picture of your family
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − dossier
• A table-of-contents page
• “Open” pages related to the “units of work”
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − dossier
• A table-of-contents page
• “Open” pages related to the “units of work”
• Additional work sheets
Time
Days of the week the days you go
to school
M_ _ _ _ _
Tu _ _ _ _ _
Wed _ _ _ _ _ _
Th _ _ _ _ _ _
Fr _ _ _ _
Sat _ _ _ _ _
Sun _ _ _
My favourite day is _________________
I like this day because
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − dossier
• A table-of-contents page
• “Open” pages related to the “units of work”
• Additional work sheets
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Primary ELP − dossier
• A table-of-contents page
• “Open” pages related to the “units of work”
• Additional work sheets
• A place to keep finished work
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
And then they asked for tests
• To measure the English language proficiency (if any) of newly
arrived pupils
• To provide a formal check on the record of learning captured
by the ELP
• To enable teachers to report on pupils‟ developing linguistic
competence and to identify aspects that may need special
attention
• To measure learning achievement at the end of the first and
second years of language support
• If necessary, to support a case for granting some pupils more
than two years of language support
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
And then they asked for tests
• Assessment tasks and themes based on the benchmarks:
closely integrated with the ELP and with day-to-day classroom
activities
• Judgements made via the tests are closely related to
judgements made by learners and their teachers on the basis
of the self-assessment function of the ELP
• In this way testing should support self-assessment and
pedagogy (for further details see Little 2005)
• Schools must use the tests if they wish to apply for additional
support for individual pupils
• The tests encourage teachers to use the ELP and the
Benchmarks
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
How can all of this be used to strengthen
the teaching and learning of less widely
used languages?
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Develop a curriculum framework
• Create a curriculum framework within which all languages (L1,
L2, Ln) can be located, using the CEFR‟s action-oriented (“can
do”) approach
• Although the CEFR describes learning outcomes for foreign
languages, the descriptors for B2 reading and writing
correspond to what we require of students at Leaving
Certificate level– Can understand articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in
which the writers adopt particular stances or viewpoints
– Can write an essay […] which develops an argument systematically with
appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detail
• Thus the curriculum framework can be based on levels A1−B2
of the CEFR and can take the same form as the self-
assessment grid
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Within the curriculum framework
• Place the languages to be taught at the different levels of
schooling within the framework and identify the proficiency levels
to be achieved at each stage
• For each language at each level, develop a curriculum by
restating the relevant part of the framework in language-specific
terms, taking account of
– the purposes that the language should serve in the individual pupil‟s/
student‟s developing plurilingual repertoire
– the genres and registers that those purposes imply
– the underlying linguistic competence required to perform communicative
tasks at each level
• For each language at each level, create a simple version of the
ELP (in each of the target languages), with “I can” checklists
based on the “can do” descriptors of the curriculum
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
For each curriculum
• Create communicative assessment instruments that clearly
and explicitly reflect curriculum goals
• Develop rating grids and scoring procedures that draw on the
linguistic competence/language quality dimension of the
curriculum
• Publish the rating grids so that teachers can use them to
inform learner self-assessment
• Create a reporting framework for assessment that
accommodates
– Self-assessment based on ELP checklists
– School-based assessment
– External examinations
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
For all second languages
• Develop teaching approaches that respond to the challenge of
the CEFR and exploit the potential of the ELP
• Teach through the target language from the beginning– Note that the CEFR defines language learning as a variety of language use
(Council of Europe 2001: 9)
• Engage learners‟ interests and identities from the beginning– In the early stages let them learn the words they want to learn and use the target
language for purposes that make sense to them
• Use writing to support speaking, and speaking to generate
written text
• By doing these things, make each language classroom a
community of increasingly literate language users who are
also increasingly literate language learners
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
We should do these things because …• If we develop
– curricula that state intended learning outcomes in “can do” terms
– ELPs that promote reflective learning and mediate curriculum goals to
learners via their “I can” checklists
– language tests and exams that are fully communicative and explicitly
rooted in “can do” and “I can” descriptors
– pedagogical approaches that treat language learning as a variety of
language use
we shall give ourselves the opportunity to
– make language learning more democratic by helping learners to steer and
control their own progress
– do justice to all languages in the curriculum
– develop citizens who are genuinely plurilingual
– ensure that our particular education system helps to fulfil the Council of
Europe‟s overarching political goals
CAER Conference, Dublin, 25 March 2011
“The place of minority languages in the development of multilingualism”
Five websites• www.coe.int/lang
– For information on all the activities of the Language Policy Division,
including those to do with the CEFR
• www.coe.int/portfolio
– For comprehensive information on the ELP
• www.ecml.at
– For information on the activities of the European Centre for Modern
Languages (Graz, Austria), which include several projects designed to
support the implementation of the ELP
• www.ncca.ie/iilt
– For English Language Proficiency Benchmarks, ELPs and assessment
kits (primary and post-primary)
• www.elsp.ie
– For a wealth of English language learning materials based on a corpus
analysis of Irish post-primary curriculum textbooks